Beer Reviews, Homebrew, Rambling

Homebrew: Meowing Monk – Belgian Blond Ale

Today I brewed up the Belgian Blond mentioned here. Everything went smoothly, and even managed to get 3 liters more wort than expected (with the intended gravity of 1.050). I added a slight amount of oat flakes to the mash, hoping to get some improved head retention and body, as I was unsure whether the simple malt bill could give rise to a decent head. The starter I pitched on Thursday was showing great signs of activity, so after I poured off 50 ml of the starter into a sterilized vial for later use (beats paying 10€ for a new smack pack), I pitched the whole thing into the wort. Hopefully this takes off soon. The fermentation vessel was placed in a room with an ambient temperature of around 20-22C, so hopefully the wort temperature climbs to around 25C after a few days. The recipe and a couple of pictures from the brewday posted below.